This invention relates to an inertia latching mechanism adapted for preventing forward folding of a motor vehicle seat back when the vehicle is exposed to a deceleration force above a predetermined level and, in particular, to a floating striker bar for the latching mechanism to ensure proper alignment of the striker bar with the pendulum latch hook.
As a safety feature, motor vehicle seat backs which have forward folding or "dumping" capability are provided with some means to prevent forward folding of the seat back when the vehicle is exposed to significant deceleration loads that occur, for example, in vehicle frontal impact conditions. Front vehicle seats in two-door vehicles generally can be folded forward to enable access to the rear compartment area. Similarly, some vehicles are equipped with a rear seat that can be folded forward to provide a larger load carrying area by expanding the space behind the rear seat. Manually released latching mechanisms can be used for such folding seats that require the user to actuate the mechanism before the seat back can be folded forward. Although these devices perform satisfactory, they are inconvenient to use. As a means of enhancing operator convenience, motor vehicle manufacturers frequently provide inertia sensitive latching mechanisms that normally enable the seat back to be freely dumped forward, but upon vehicle deceleration lock to prevent dumping of the seat back in vehicle impact conditions.
The inertia latching mechanism of the present invention has widespread potential application but is particularly suited for station wagons or similar vehicles to restrict forward folding of the seat back of a second passenger seat. The latching mechanism includes an inertia latch pendulum with a hook mounted to the seat back. When the seat back is in an upright position, the pendulum hook surrounds a striker bar attached to the seat support structure. In order to enhance the reliability of operation of the latch mechanism, the striker bar is mounted to the seat support in a manner enabling the striker bar to "float" to positively locate the striker bar relative to the pendulum hook. A guide member adjacent to the pendulum hook deflects the striker bar as necessary to position the striker bar at a predetermined location relative to the pivot point of the pendulum.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.